Stay Connected

blogdowntown: Home Page for the Downtown Click.

http://blogdowntown.com

Umamicatessen debuts new veggie-friendly menu

By Hayley FoxPublished: Wednesday, November 07, 2012, at 09:47AM

courtesy Umamicatessen

Umamicatessen's new beet salad.

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Re-imagined food court Umamicatessen is announcing a new menu of veggie-heavy dishes they're calling the "Market Menu." Umami Burger and "Kosher style" deli restaurant The Cure are broadening their horizons from burgers and sandwiches, to include salads and small plates.

Previously, pickings were slim for non-meat eaters at this Broadway eatery with a happy hour that includes deals on ham by the ounce and stations such as Pigg serving a special called "Around the World in 8 Hams!"

Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold wrote about the restaurant in the Los Angeles Times earlier this year:

And some of the most obvious pleasures of Umamicatessen do come from Pigg: angular metal vases, like Art Deco artifacts, fitted with brown paper and filled with things like crunchy fried pig's ears; rosemary-scented popcorn cooked in lard instead of oil; or fluffy, crunchy wisps of fried pigskin — cracklings — nearly as profound as the ones you may have enjoyed at Jazz Fest in New Orleans.

Best know known for their specialty burgers and affinity to raw and fried big parts, Umamicatessen menus now include words such as quinoa and kale.

New additions include a Truffle Beet Salad with arugula, ricotta and almonds; a Chopped Salad with chickpeas, butter lettuce and radicchio; and a Greek salad with marinated chicken. Small plates signal a season of (hopefully) cold winter months with honey mustard brussel sprouts, roasted beets and carrots and a caramelized squash dish with smoked paprika and cumin yogurt.

Small plates cost between $3 and $5 and salads range from $4 to $12. To balance out their announcement of these new lighter veggie plates, Umamicatessen also introduced a new whiskey bread pudding donut and a breakfast sandwich that includes sausage, eggs and pig ear bacon.